poplar road

...Richard would be doing the yippy-skippy dance right now. He has spent the first half of this year on the road all over the province demonstrating Unimogs on ski hills, on highways, in mines, in fire halls, and finally word is getting out and Richard's perseverance has started to pay off. This week (after weeks of hard work, mind you) he has made TWO Unimog sales!!

That makes 4 in total for this year. Hurrah! One of this week's sales was a fire-fighting Mog, for the fire department that he was en route to demo at when he stopped to help put out that flaming semi-trailer in McLure. The other is to an individual as an off-road expeditionary vehicle. I haven't heard much more about the sales than that, because he carried on to the next appointment (and hopefully the next quote) and hasn't made it home to sit back and savour it yet. There are another four potential clients he's working on right now, so he's feeling very positive that this is the year Unimog in BC gets off the ground. Then maybe he can slow down enough to sleep in his own bed more often than not. (And I could finally get my new master bath!)

As for me, I jumped from a 20 hour week to a 30 hour week this week, am probably working a few hours more this weekend, and next week I'll be up to full time. Maybe even the odd week on Richard time (60 hrs) because suddenly my job is insane!

I've been involved in some facet of education every year since school began at age 5, and it's always the same: the arrival of September causes an anxious knot of anticipation (or dread, initially) in the pit of my stomach as the education season begins again. I started this new job after the spring training season ended, so I've yet to experience registration and certification processes in full swing. But if I'm going to be swamped with work, that gets us closer to a working second vehicle, a finished master bathroom, and a flat screen tv, so I'm happy to get the hours.

On the third work front, Richard's heat pump business, he made a sale to yet another co-worker last Saturday, and plans to do the installation tomorrow. This one will actually make the business some money. I just hope the full day tomorrow on top of his usual 60-hour work week won't drain away all the energy he's got from making those sales. If nothing else, Richard has proven that honesty, integrity, and high standards for quality and workmanship can exist in the world of sales. I'm so proud and grateful that his hard work is being rewarded.

It was clear and moonless when I got home from bellydance at midnight last night, so I went looking for Mars - you may have heard that last night was supposed to be its closest proximity to Earth for the next hundred lifetimes or so. I turned off the outside lights and couldn't believe how clearly I could see the Milky Way. Didn't know which of the brightest three stars was Mars, but just seeing that infinite sky.... I said a thank you to the universe for the clear night, the cool clean air, and the good things that have happened this year. Whether you have a telescope to pick out the planet amongst all the other pricks of light or not, I suggest you get out there tonight in a clear, unlit place and look up. And if you think of anything at all, think, Yes.